The idea that our nation’s prisons are overflowing with otherwise lawabiding people convicted for nothing more than simple possession of marijuana is treated by many as conventional wisdom.

But this, in fact, is a myth—an illusion conjured and aggressively perpetuated by drug advocacy groups seeking to relax or abolish America’s marijuana laws. In reality, the vast majority of inmates in state and federal prison for marijuana have been found guilty of much more than simple possession. Some were convicted for drug trafficking, some for marijuana possession along with one or more other offenses. And many of those serving time for marijuana pled down to possession in order to avoid prosecution on much more serious charges.

In 1997, the year for which the most recent data are available, just 1.6 percent of the state inmate population were held for offenses involving only marijuana, and less than one percent of all state prisoners (0.7 percent) were incarcerated with marijuana possession as the only charge, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). An even smaller fraction of state prisoners in 1997 who were convicted just for marijuana possession were first time offenders (0.3 percent).

The numbers on the federal level tell a similar story. Out of all drug defendants sentenced in federal court for marijuana crimes in 2001, the overwhelming majority were convicted for trafficking, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Only 2.3 percent—186 people—received sentences for simple possession, and of the 174 for whom sentencing information is known, just 63 actually served time behind bars.

cold fjord writes: State level marijuana legalization efforts across the US have been gaining traction driven by the folk wisdom that marijuana is both a harmless recreational drug and a useful medical treatment for many aliments. However some cracks have appeared in that story with indications that marijuana use is associated with the development of mental disorders and the long term blunting of the brain's reward system of dopamine levels. A new study has found that marijuana appears to have a widespread effect on blood flow in the brain: "Published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, researchers using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), a sophisticated imaging study that evaluates blood flow and activity patterns, demonstrated abnormally low blood flow in virtually every area of the brain studies in nearly 1,000 marijuana users compared to healthy controls, including areas known to be affected by Alzheimer's pathology such as the hippocampus. . . . According to Daniel Amen, M.D.,... "Our research demonstrates that marijuana can have significant negative effects on brain function. The media has given the general impression that marijuana is a safe recreational drug, this research directly challenges that notion. In another new study just released, researchers showed that marijuana use tripled the risk of psychosis. Caution is clearly in order.""

As the media freaks out over Donald Trump’s latest tweet, this one on criminalizing the burning of the American flag, here’s something you probably won’t read a lot about: Hillary Clinton agrees with the president-elect (or at least she used to):

An anonymous reader writes: The 2016 election win by Donald Trump has resulted in many theories about how Trump won, and how the media missed his support. A prominent theory making the rounds in the media is that 'fake news' from fringe news sites, blogs, foreign government propaganda units, and other sources, is what helped push Trump over the top to win. Cathy Young, writing in The Hill, states that isn't the real problem. The real main problem is when the mainstream media reports the news filtered through an agenda, distorting some facts, ignoring others, and highlighting what supports their agenda. A recent example is the reporting that suggests Trump plans to create a "Muslim registry," implying that all Muslims in the US would have to register with the US government. But that isn't Trump's plan at all:

Trump may revive a program that was in place from 2001 to 2011; according to The Washington Post, that system “required people from countries deemed ‘higher risk’ to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting upon arrival” and, in some cases, “to follow a parole-like system by periodically checking in with local authorities.” Most of the countries identified as high-risk were majority-Muslim, and civil rights groups charged that the program targeted Muslims. But to call such a program a “Muslim registry” creates an essentially false impression — which is what many people were undoubtedly left with if they did not read the story carefully, or only saw the buzz about it in the social media.

Well, good then, he is simply exercising his free speech and expressing an opinion about what the law should be. Wake me if he actually tries to impose unconstitutional speech codes like college campuses.

Trump not only isn't a dictator, he isn't a warlock either. His powers of conjuring are limited to the powers of the presidency, not the realm of magic. The law is still the law, and both the White House counsel and Attorney General will inform him of that should he want something that isn't legal.

On the other hand, he does seem to have an almost magical power to cause butt hurt and insanity in some segments of society - mainly those that discovered they hate him after he decided to run as a Republican much as has happened to those that ran before.

Where is the proof of riots resulting from Obama's election? That's what you imply you have, that's what I've been looking for, and you haven't delivered. That's not me "moving the goalpost," that is you being unable to back up your claim. There is no surprise there because it is rubbish. Conservatives/Republicans didn't riot over their loss in the election.

And no, "I don't have time" is just a poor excuse for not wanting to face that facts.

No, it is a statement of prioritization of my use of time in which replying on Slashdot falls far below the other demands on my time. That isn't hard to understand.

An anti-Trump rally in Portland, Oregon, revved up as protesters confronted police Thursday night. What started out as a peaceful march, with more than 4,000 people, quickly turned violent. Over the course of the evening, "anarchists" in the crowd threw objects at officers, vandalized local businesses and damaged cars, Portland Police Sgt. Pete Simpson said. Police publicly declared a "riot" due to "extensive criminal and dangerous behavior" and called the protest "unlawful," according to posts on the department's Twitter page. The crowd was dispersed using "less lethal munitions" and at least 26 protesters were arrested, police said.

Some of the roughly 1,000 protesters in Oakland broke store windows, left graffiti on buildings and threw M-80 firecrackers, Molotov cocktails and bottles at police officers, authorities said. Eleven people were arrested in Oakland, including someone who had seven Molotov cocktails in his possession, police said. Some of those arrested are accused of assaulting police officers.

There are voter suppression tactics that are illegal -- those that involve voter intimidation. But what the Trump operation described is more along the lines of discouraging voters from turning out with messaging through media buys and events.